Melina Carnicelli: First Amendment/First Vote
Auburn first female mayor devoted to inspiring high school girls to consider careers in government
By Joe Sarnicola
Melina Carnicelli, the first and only woman to serve as mayor of Auburn, has channeled her passion for education and community service to create a program that inspires high school girls to consider careers in government or other leadership positions.
The program — First Amendment/First Vote or 1A1V — was founded in the 2017-18 school year, but the idea for it developed in response to the results of the 2016 presidential election.
“I planned to go to the Women’s March in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 20, 2017, but I changed my mind. I thought we should do something local,” Carnicelli said,
After contacting people that she believed would be interested and able to help, the first Women’s March in Seneca Falls was held on the same day as the DC event. Fifteen thousand people showed up, including many young women and teenaged girls.
Carnicelli said this was the first time the Seneca Falls area had been used for a grassroots movement. Inspired by the huge turnout, she had an idea for a new concept.
“I wanted to develop a program to promote women’s rights,” she said. “That’s how First Amendment/First Vote came to be. In 2017 we did a pilot program in Seneca Falls at the Gould Hotel. There were 49 students from seven high schools. This year there were 153 students from 19 schools.”
Carnicelli is more than just the creator of this program. She is a role model for the girls who attend the 1A1V conferences.
In 1990, while on hiatus from her position as a public school teacher, she founded Treble Associates with Gwen Weber-McLeod and Bevan Angier as a workplace consulting firm that specialized in leadership and organizational development. She was also involved in the creation of Tomatofest of CNY, the Harriet Tubman Freedom Park and Leadership Cayuga County.
In 1995 Carnicelli was elected to the Auburn City Council followed by her becoming elected as the mayor of Auburn for a four-year term that began in 2000.
“Unfortunately,” she said, “I am still the only woman who has been nominated by any party for mayor of Auburn. That is unacceptable.”
She has also received awards and other recognition for her service.
She is a recipient of the Central New York National Organization of Women’s Unsung Heroine Award and the Catholic Charities of the Finger Lakes’ Sharing the Light Award. She was appointed to a term on the board of trustees of Cayuga Community College and she was the first recipient of the Martin Luther King Jr. Drum Major Award for founding the mayor’s Social Justice Task Force in Auburn.
Drawing on her experience and the important social and political connections she has made over the years, Carnicelli is able to recruit a diverse group of speakers and presenters for the two-day leadership action summits, which are part of the 1A1V program.
The 2024 event was held this past March at the Hilton Garden Inn in Auburn. Speakers included Auburn’s mayor Jimmy Giannettino; Shakera C Tems, interim director of woman’s affairs, office of Gov. Kathy Hochul; Tamica Barnett, president of the Syracuse City Board of Education; and Sheri Dozier-Owens, senior adviser, office of the New York State Comptroller.
Topics of discussion ranged from campaigning and how to get elected to local office to governing and how to develop an action plan.
In order for girls to be eligible for the program they must have demonstrated leadership in their school or community and they must represent the values their schools want to be known for. The schools must select a mentor who will meet and work with the candidates prior to the summit.
“Every school district knows we require a diverse cohort of students, not just academics or athletes, but those with varied world views. Every fall each region has an all-day seminar. There is an incredible mix of observable and non observable differences,” Carnicelli said.
According to materials provided by Carnicelli, the students will imagine themselves as government leaders, engage in discussions with women who are in or have been in elected offices or government positions, they will become familiar with the first and 19th amendments to the Constitution and they will learn how to articulate a vision for gender parity in local, state and national elected offices.
The program covers topics that are part of the NYS Department of Education Social Studies Standards such as “Foundations of American Democracy,” “Civil Rights and Liberties” and “Public Policy.” The summit closes with an optional visit to the Equal Rights Heritage Museum in Auburn.
As part of the Leadership Action Summit the students break up into groups, select a member of their group to be a candidate for a local office and create a simulated campaign, complete with slogans and posters, followed by a stump speech delivered by their candidate. Then all of the girls conduct a simulated vote based on what they have seen and heard.
After the summit the girls are expected to implement a project in their home school or community based on an action plan developed at the summit, which they must present to their respective boards of education for approval.
As examples of the programs the girls develop and implement, Auburn students created “Tubman’s Table,” an honor system pantry of snacks, school supplies and other items because they recognized that some students needed these products. They also raise money to buy what they need to stock the pantry. Southern Cayuga Junior-Senior High School students created “Hermanas,” a safe-space club where girls can talk about hygiene, schoolwork, time management and friend/relationship issues, with girls from 1A1V facilitating the discussions.
More Information
For more information about First Amendment/First Vote, visit: 1sta1stv.org
In order for the program to continue, funds are necessary and the website provides opportunities for small donations or corporate sponsorships. All contributions are tax-deductible.